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The Difference Between ‘Careful’ and ‘Responsible’ This article originally appears in the September 2015 @OECTA Magazine - By Anthony Carabache - Sept. 15, 2015 My son Julius is seven years old - the eldest of four children. The morning he told me he wanted his own YouTube channel, I leaned on my kitchen counter, looked at my wife and said, "Already? Really?" If you know who I am and what I do, I invite you to relish in the irony… it’s actually okay with me. I told him his mother and I would discuss and then lay out a plan to get his channel going. The next half hour was spent contemplating how to avoid this inevitability. When I finally came to my senses, I went to work digging through my presentations looking for something - anything - to fix the situation. From laptop to Dropbox to Drive, I just knew that somewhere in the Cloud I had a presentation or a talk or a handout that would make this all better. But I was frustrated and worried. How could I, a designer, author and implementation strategist for technology integration in education be stymied by my seven-year-old’s desire to start a YouTube channel? The 21st Century Learner A few moments later, my two-year old tried to climb up onto the kitchen table to reach my iPad. When my wife gently told him to "Be careful," it hit me! I ran back to one of my machines and pulled up a graphic that had been driving a good chunk of my talks about the 21st Century learner during the past year. I had overlooked it while I was thinking "defense." . The graphic I uncovered has a simple, yet profound message. It is the promise I make to teachers and parents across Ontario and via Twitter to the world: We should change the word "careful" to "responsible" whenever discussing our online behaviour. The beauty of this simple change switches us, as a collective, from defense to offense. Being careful entails waiting for something to happen, and then to treading softly as we negotiate that something. Being responsible requires us to act by a standard we created ahead of time. One is passive (waiting for something to happen) and one is proactive (anticipating what’s to come). Empowering Students As a teacher, when you change the dialogue in your classroom from careful conversations to responsible ones, you empower your students to take control of potentially harmful situations. When you ask a child of seven to seek out videos on YouTube about Minecraft that only have positive language, you open yourself up to the question: "What is bad language?" Well of course you have to answer that question, but when you answer, you explain how speaking in light of Christ’s teachings is what makes us who we are. You tie that responsibility to the beauty of Christ’s story and draw that connection between our faith and your student’s behaviour. When you do that, you begin shaping a very potent young being. . When next you speak to your students about the dangers of the World Wide Web, try to catch yourself before you utter the word "careful" and instead replace it with the word "responsible." It is then that you witness what incredible ideas, lessons and conversations will follow.

Anthony Carabache . Blog .  Dec 03, 2015 09:03pm

3 Reasons Why it’s the Perfect Time to Take An OECTA AQ for Technology in the Classroom

Teachers looking for an opportunity to learn at a pace that respects their style of learning have a wonderful opportunity to do so with OECTA’s Integration of Information Technology in Classroom Instruction Part 1. The course was designed with the beginner in mind and deeply explores simple tools and simple integration for anyone willing to try. For those that are ready for a challenge, our IITCI Part 2 looks at more complex tools and marries that learning with research and deep pedagogy. (Our specialist has not been released yet but its focus is on leadership development, system roll-outs, research, pedagogy and change theory.) Here are the top 3 reasons why you should take one of our AQ’s about integration of technology. Reason #1 - Total Support in an Online World Much of the feedback that we have received about the course has been about how flexible, patient and encouraging our instructors are. Offering many opportunities to connect via email, texts, phone calls and online webinars, our instructors have proven that they are willing to go the distance to make your first foray into technology enabled learning a positive one. We have had many participants taking the course who had never taken an online course before and found themselves to be very successful. Reason #2 - Real World Application The course content was designed to work in your classroom, period. There are hundreds of fleeting fads and tech trends that sweep through our schools everyday, but the approach to technology used in our courses focuses on skill development and a broad view of how any tool can be used in a pedagogically sound way. Reason #3 - Government Subsidy is Now Available As of November 2015 OECTA is able to offer a $450 subsidy for Ontario teachers in good standing with the Ontario College of Teachers upon completion of our Integration of Information and Technology in Classroom Instruction and Mathematics courses while funds remain, so be sure to register soon. There is no better time to take first or second steps into the world of technology enabled learning than now. As course designer and former instructor I can say with great confidence that you will enjoy the course from beginning to end. Come join us for a new online learning experience!

Anthony Carabache . Blog .  Dec 03, 2015 09:02pm

Do EdTech the Right Way

This article originally appears in the @OECTA Magazine found at: http://www.oecta.on.ca/ This article is an example of an interactive article. Because it was distributed in print form, readers were encouraged to download any QR code reader from the Apple App Store, Android Store or use the BlackBerry Smart Tag app to scan codes like the one you see to the left using your tablet or mobile device. Thinking about taking the next step to integrating technology in your classroom? Experience has shown that there are 3 keys to successful integration of educational technology: Have a Plan Use Non-Invasive Technology Be OK with Trying Again. The Plan Having a plan is probably the most critical factor for success when attempting to integrate tech into everyday teaching. The plan can be broken down into 3 key parts: A - Identify the Overall Expectation from the curriculum that you would like to explore. B - Identify a non-invasive tech tool that will help facilitate learning based on that expectation. C - Build in time for trial, error and retrial within the activity. Always remember that teachers teach students, not curriculum. Avoid the pitfall of being compelled to ‘cover curriculum’ or ‘cover content’. When you begin with the Big Ideas featured at the beginning of each section within any curriculum document, you start with a broad idea that promotes student inquiry. Also avoid ‘covering’ each of the specific expectations and instead invite your students to arrive at those expectations on their own. You will find over time that your students will meet and exceed all of the specific curriculum expectations. If they do not, then you will have enough evidence to pinpoint which areas of learning require your attention. Once you have identified the overall expectations, decide on what tools (if any) you will need to facilitate student learning. Will the tool be used to drive content, make student learning visible or assist with a culminating artifact? What is Non-Invasive Technology? It has become quite apparent that software companies have turned their focus to education looking for ways to penetrate a relatively unexploited market. In doing so the web has become saturated with a variety of tools and apps that help make learning fun, engaging, visible, measurable and interactive. On the surface this looks like a very good thing, but as teachers we must always remember our responsibility to protect our students. Consider the following before you select your next online tool for the classroom. 1. Is the tool licensed by the ministry or by your school board? 2. Does the tool respect student privacy? What login information is being asked? 3. Does the tool collect invasive amounts of data such as age, geographic location, gender, school name? 4. Does that tool necessitate use of your personal device? 5. Does that tool necessitate parental permission? 6. Does the tool require that you keep pictures, videos or any other data locally on a device? 7. If data is lost, does the tool enable swift recovery? 8. Is there teacher support at your school or board for that particular tool? There are a great many applications that are powerful learning tools that are completely non-invasive. The key here is to answer the question: What do you want the tech to do? There are numerous non-invasive tools that can explore content, visualize learning, categorize research or consolidate learning through creation of an artifact. Be OK With Trying Again Teachers are often hard on themselves when plans seemingly fail when in reality, students have learned in spite of that perceived failure. Be sure to understand that patience for yourself is just as important as patience for your students. Select a tool that is straightforward to implement and even more importantly, straight forward to manage. Establish rules and expectations with your students not for your students. Student-voice should always define the protocols for using any online tool with the guidance of the teacher. When you select a tool, set a realistic goal about its frequency of use. Attempting to use a tech-tool everyday is very unrealistic. 1-2 times per week is an ideal pace for anyone beginning his or her journey of tech integration. Below is an example of a simple lesson for Grade 9 Mathematics. It uses 3 tools that are considered non-invasive. 2 tools help deliver content and 1 tool is used to capture student voice, rationale and learning. Sample Learning Activity Curriculum Goal: MPM1D - Investigating the Properties of Slope Have the class view video 1 from Study.com (see link below) and select 5 students to write notes using Todaysmeet.com. Assign 1 other student as the moderator of those notes. Watch the second video from Khan Academy via YouTube and ask 5 other students to write notes about points made that may not have been made in the original video. Assign 1 other student as the moderator of those notes. Have a class discussion about which video achieves its goal to introduce slope and why. Create groupings of 3 and challenge each group to create a tutorial about how to calculate slope. This can be done using paper, tech or any other appropriate means. Build in time for exploration and dialogue Attempt to solve real world problems based on lessons learned. Assess for learning and provide meaningful feedback. Non-Invasive Tech Tools:

Anthony Carabache . Blog .  Dec 03, 2015 09:02pm

Web 2.0 Weekly: Time to make some changes…

Greetings all! First off, this post is more of an announcement than my regular fare, or rather an announcement about my regular fare. That is to say my regular fare isn’t regular enough! So for the next little while, say a month or so, I’ll be conducting an experiment. Rather than save up my finds […] The post Web 2.0 Weekly: Time to make some changes… appeared first on Many Pebbles, One Pond.